What do you think?
Rate this book
Lorna Mott torna a casa
Quando Lorna Mott Dumas, una storica dell'arte americana di mezza età, decide di abbandonare il grazioso villaggio francese nel quale ha vissuto per quasi vent'anni con il suo secondo marito, il cimitero del paese frana, rivoltando le tombe di quelli che vi erano seppelliti e gettando su di lei un presagio di ciò che la aspetta tornando a casa. Lorna infatti è diretta a San Francisco per riprendere in mano la propria vita e allontanarsi così dai tradimenti del marito, l'affascinante Armand-Loup Dumas, tornare a essere la brillante conferenziera di un tempo e sentirsi di nuovo apprezzata come vorrebbe. Ma l'America che trova è diversa da quella che aveva lasciato, inoltre la carriera di Lorna come studiosa è a un punto morto e i tre figli vivono situazioni complicate a cui lei non sa come fare fronte. L'unica speranza potrebbe essere proprio nel primo marito e padre dei suoi figli, Randall Mott, un cinico dermatologo che ha sposato in seconde nozze una ricca imprenditrice della Silicon Valley con la quale ha avuto l'angelica e diafana Gilda, angustiata però da problemi di salute e da una imprevista e pericolosa gravidanza...
Su questa famiglia allargata che ruota attorno alla figura di Lorna si distende una commedia dagli esiti bizzarri e paradossali, che racconta come il posto che chiamiamo casa non sia un luogo fisico, ma quanto ci fa avvicinare a noi stessi e a ciò che abbiamo davvero a cuore. Opera magistrale di una grande "outsider" della letteratura americana, Lorna Mott torna a casa è un romanzo irresistibile ed elegantemente crudele sui costumi odierni e sul tempo che passa sopra ogni cosa.
Su questa famiglia allargata che ruota attorno alla figura di Lorna si distende una commedia dagli esiti bizzarri e paradossali, che racconta come il posto che chiamiamo casa non sia un luogo fisico, ma quanto ci fa avvicinare a noi stessi e a ciò che abbiamo davvero a cuore. Opera magistrale di una grande "outsider" della letteratura americana, Lorna Mott torna a casa è un romanzo irresistibile ed elegantemente crudele sui costumi odierni e sul tempo che passa sopra ogni cosa.
416 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2021
185 people are currently reading
4287 people want to read
About the author
Diane Johnson
128 books184 followersDiane Johnson is an American novelist and essayist whose satirical novels often feature American heroines living in contemporary France. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Persian Nights in 1988.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
August 12, 2021
For me, the most astonishing thing about this novel, “Lorna Mott Comes Home” is that the author, Diane Johnson is 87 year-old!! The fact that she crafted this hilarious comedy of errors and manners at her age is to me, truly amazing! Ms. Johnson provides hope that losing one’s mental acuity in one’s 80’s is not a given.
Lorna Mott, our protagonist, is a sixty-something divorcee returning to the USA after living in a small Provencal village in France for 20 years. Her second husband is a philanderer, and she is tired of it. She decides she will return to the San Francisco area where her three adult children live. She intends to restart her profession as an art historian. Sadly, she finds the USA not the same as when she left. She finds herself, well, irrelevant. She becomes increasingly frustrated with her plight as she attempts to re-establishes her career.
Meanwhile, all three adult children seem to be plagued with money issues. Lorna herself needs funds. Her first husband, Ran, the father of her children, remarried a dot-com millionaire and he has a 15-year-old daughter with his second wife. Lorna is frustrated with Ran that he hasn’t appeared to financially help his adult children. Those three children and their marriages are fodder for fun. For example, their son is in a coma at the beginning of the story after a tragic bicycle accident. When he awakes he disappears to Thailand leaving his wife and twins with a million-dollar mortgage and no income. One daughter is selling crafts on the internet to make money. And their youngest son is a hippie living in a questionable neighborhood.
The fun in this novel is the back stories and character development. Johnson is on top of her craft. It’s like reading a soap opera with crazy turns of events. Johnson begins each chapter with clever one-liners such as “Pace Freud, does talking about a problem always make us feel better?” “Enjoying the company of friends is a reliable human impulse.” My favorite: “There’s no gossip like family gossip.” Additionally, her observations and wry humor makes this the perfect summer charming read. “Californians are optimistic most of the time.”
Johnson brings the family together with an unexpected pregnancy which comically unites the family. All the cast of characters are interesting in their own right.
I listened to the audio production, narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed. Reed is perfectly cast as there is much French, and her French pronunciations made the story interesting and delightful.
Lorna Mott, our protagonist, is a sixty-something divorcee returning to the USA after living in a small Provencal village in France for 20 years. Her second husband is a philanderer, and she is tired of it. She decides she will return to the San Francisco area where her three adult children live. She intends to restart her profession as an art historian. Sadly, she finds the USA not the same as when she left. She finds herself, well, irrelevant. She becomes increasingly frustrated with her plight as she attempts to re-establishes her career.
Meanwhile, all three adult children seem to be plagued with money issues. Lorna herself needs funds. Her first husband, Ran, the father of her children, remarried a dot-com millionaire and he has a 15-year-old daughter with his second wife. Lorna is frustrated with Ran that he hasn’t appeared to financially help his adult children. Those three children and their marriages are fodder for fun. For example, their son is in a coma at the beginning of the story after a tragic bicycle accident. When he awakes he disappears to Thailand leaving his wife and twins with a million-dollar mortgage and no income. One daughter is selling crafts on the internet to make money. And their youngest son is a hippie living in a questionable neighborhood.
The fun in this novel is the back stories and character development. Johnson is on top of her craft. It’s like reading a soap opera with crazy turns of events. Johnson begins each chapter with clever one-liners such as “Pace Freud, does talking about a problem always make us feel better?” “Enjoying the company of friends is a reliable human impulse.” My favorite: “There’s no gossip like family gossip.” Additionally, her observations and wry humor makes this the perfect summer charming read. “Californians are optimistic most of the time.”
Johnson brings the family together with an unexpected pregnancy which comically unites the family. All the cast of characters are interesting in their own right.
I listened to the audio production, narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed. Reed is perfectly cast as there is much French, and her French pronunciations made the story interesting and delightful.
July 29, 2023
Thank you Jonathan for suggesting this book to me.
A review by The Washington Post in 2021 says
" Lorna has finally had enough. She is heading home to San Francisco, where she hopes to reestablish herself professionally. “She would prove, to herself if to no one else, that you can make a new life at any age.”.. Including your children this time.
Most of us have felt some of Lorna's emotions regardless of age.
A review by The Washington Post in 2021 says
" Lorna has finally had enough. She is heading home to San Francisco, where she hopes to reestablish herself professionally. “She would prove, to herself if to no one else, that you can make a new life at any age.”.. Including your children this time.
Most of us have felt some of Lorna's emotions regardless of age.
December 15, 2020
It’s magic! I have spent 2 days traveling the world under the skillful guidance of one of my favorite authors. I have missed Johnson, it’s been a long time since Le Divorce, yet I never go to Paris without thinking of it. Now I’ve added to my French geography with this delightful novel.
I generally hate having a lot of characters in a novel, but Johnson makes it all work. She binds them together with a thin chord. The catalyst is Lorna returning to San Francisco, divorcing her cheating French husband. She returns at a moment when her ex-husband and 3 adult children are in the midst of crises, financial and emotional.
Her return untangles the complicated webs which surround her children. Added to this is a huge issue with her husband’s newest progeny. The story just goes by so beautifully and the characters are so engaging that I only have one criticism....it ended!
I loved this novel, I wish there was a part II so I could find out what happens to all these appealing characters. Thank you Netgalley for this lovely read. I’ve already alerted all my book clubs that this is a must-read.
I generally hate having a lot of characters in a novel, but Johnson makes it all work. She binds them together with a thin chord. The catalyst is Lorna returning to San Francisco, divorcing her cheating French husband. She returns at a moment when her ex-husband and 3 adult children are in the midst of crises, financial and emotional.
Her return untangles the complicated webs which surround her children. Added to this is a huge issue with her husband’s newest progeny. The story just goes by so beautifully and the characters are so engaging that I only have one criticism....it ended!
I loved this novel, I wish there was a part II so I could find out what happens to all these appealing characters. Thank you Netgalley for this lovely read. I’ve already alerted all my book clubs that this is a must-read.
June 11, 2021
I’m not one to shy away from books featuring awful characters, nor do I think their awfulness is some personal reflection on the author. Unfortunately I just can’t connect with this. I got about a quarter of the way through and a characters shocking bigotry ended it for me. After already dreading picking it up, I bailed. I think some readers will enjoy this, but I really didn’t.
May 10, 2023
LORNA MOTT COMES HOME
Diane Johnson
Lorna Mott is an American woman who has become more French than American. She has lived the last twenty years in France with her husband who pictures himself as a ladies' man. Lorna has had enough and packs her bags and returns "home" to San Franciso only to find that she really didn't go home.
Lorna hoped to prove that you can start a new life at any age but found you have to be prepared that things may not turn out the way you expect. Once home the complications of her three adult children were right there in her face. All of her adult children had their own set of issues, what with her son who’d recently awoken from a coma following an accident and buggered off to Asia to find himself and not responding to any contact from his wife. Both of her daughters struggling financially and her dormant career from 20 years ago has not sprung to life.
Her first husband, the father of her children has a rich wife but has not helped their children. And now his child with this much younger rich wife is 15 and pregnant and determined to have the baby.
Lorna struggles with these facts and tensions as well as those resulting from getting older and less visualized by the world. Lorna's plight was meaningful to me as I near her age and share many of the same observations and feeling with her. Aging is not for the faint of heart.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
Diane Johnson
Lorna Mott is an American woman who has become more French than American. She has lived the last twenty years in France with her husband who pictures himself as a ladies' man. Lorna has had enough and packs her bags and returns "home" to San Franciso only to find that she really didn't go home.
Lorna hoped to prove that you can start a new life at any age but found you have to be prepared that things may not turn out the way you expect. Once home the complications of her three adult children were right there in her face. All of her adult children had their own set of issues, what with her son who’d recently awoken from a coma following an accident and buggered off to Asia to find himself and not responding to any contact from his wife. Both of her daughters struggling financially and her dormant career from 20 years ago has not sprung to life.
Her first husband, the father of her children has a rich wife but has not helped their children. And now his child with this much younger rich wife is 15 and pregnant and determined to have the baby.
Lorna struggles with these facts and tensions as well as those resulting from getting older and less visualized by the world. Lorna's plight was meaningful to me as I near her age and share many of the same observations and feeling with her. Aging is not for the faint of heart.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
July 11, 2021
A decent comedy of manners. I expected this to be full of witty and profound thoughts about life, family, aging and cultural differences. While the novel does contain some of this, for me it was overshadowed by the storyline of a fifteen-year-old girl who was impregnated by a twenty-year-old man. This is essentially the main storyline and I found it too disturbing to enjoy the rest of the book.
July 3, 2021
“Lorna Mott Comes Home” is the first new book I’ve seen from author Diane Johnson in many years. Famous for her excellent comedies of manners, like “Le Divorce” and “L’Affaire”, Johnson’s books are peopled with wealthy WASPS, from San Francisco and small towns in the south of France. Characters you might find in the movies by Nancy Meyers. You know, like “Father of the Bride”, “It’s Complicated”, and “The Parent Trap”, among others. I’m pointing out the similarities between Johnson’s novels and Meyers’ movies, because they’re not common these days. And we’re all slightly worse off for it.
Diane Johnson’s book is filled with characters who are sorta related to each other by the two marriages of Dr Ran Mott. He had three children by first wife, Lorna, and one child by his second wife Amy, a tech maven. Lorna and Ran have been divorced for years and she has since moved to France to marry a man called Armand-Loup. The book opens in 2008, in the midst of the Great Recession. All the characters are at sixes-and-sevens, including Lorna, who has decided to divorce Armand (he’s an incorrigible flirt and philanderer, but then, what Frenchman isn’t?). She’s moved back to San Francisco but the United States in general, and San Francisco in particular, have changed and Lorna isn’t particularly comfortable.
The plot is actually quite important in Diane Johnson’s book. The characters go through all sorts of problems, like marital infidelity, teenage pregnancy, financial insolvency, and marital desertion. It all sounds pretty grim, doesn’t it, but it really isn’t. Problems are shared, as are remedies for those problems. The people are so charming and basically good hearted that the book ends as it should. The fun for the reader is getting to the end.
By the way, Diane Johnson is in her 80’s but she’s still quite a writer.
Diane Johnson’s book is filled with characters who are sorta related to each other by the two marriages of Dr Ran Mott. He had three children by first wife, Lorna, and one child by his second wife Amy, a tech maven. Lorna and Ran have been divorced for years and she has since moved to France to marry a man called Armand-Loup. The book opens in 2008, in the midst of the Great Recession. All the characters are at sixes-and-sevens, including Lorna, who has decided to divorce Armand (he’s an incorrigible flirt and philanderer, but then, what Frenchman isn’t?). She’s moved back to San Francisco but the United States in general, and San Francisco in particular, have changed and Lorna isn’t particularly comfortable.
The plot is actually quite important in Diane Johnson’s book. The characters go through all sorts of problems, like marital infidelity, teenage pregnancy, financial insolvency, and marital desertion. It all sounds pretty grim, doesn’t it, but it really isn’t. Problems are shared, as are remedies for those problems. The people are so charming and basically good hearted that the book ends as it should. The fun for the reader is getting to the end.
By the way, Diane Johnson is in her 80’s but she’s still quite a writer.
September 11, 2021
The author apparently thought her characters and plot lines were so complicated that the average reader would not be able to follow them, so she gave each character a descriptive narrative, and then repeated it several times throughout the book, just in case the average reader forgot who was whom. The redundancy really bugged me. And the plot was not much better. Lorna Mott, the title character, was, after a long and slow start to the book, relegated to a supporting character (not that I really cared about her). The storyline that emerged front and center was bizarre, and nothing was resolved in the end. If this wasn't a book club pick I would have returned it to the library days ago.
February 1, 2021
I had no idea what to expect from this wonderful novel. Lorna Mott-Dumas returns to her scattered family in the Bay Area after her marriage to a Frenchman she suspects is sleeping around begins to fall apart. Filled with a cast of colorful characters and a bizarre family dynamic, LORNA MOTT COMES HOME is a terrific and clever peek into the lives of adult children and their parents of divorce. I would recommend it to anyone who loved the show PARENTHOOD, or the book THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU.
Thank you to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 6, 2022
Lorna Mott torna a casa: ovvero in California, dopo avere vissuto per vent’anni in un piccolo paese della Francia insieme al fascinoso secondo marito (ovviamente francese).
All’improvviso Lorna, storica dell’Arte senza più arte (data l’età che avanza) né parte (data l’oscillazione sentimentale) decide che ha parecchi motivi per piantare in asso il fedifrago Monsier Dumas e ricongiungersi ai tre figli americani (e ai loro differenti e complicati problemi).
Ma il ritorno in realtà non è idilliaco come la mente lo dipinge e si scopre via via che il concetto di “casa” non è affatto semplice né così banale il suo significato.
E allora.
Partire, restare, costruire o distruggere un nido affettivo, ma soprattutto scoprire che il denaro -la sua mancanza o il suo eccesso- determina le scelte di ciascuno tanto quanto gli afflati del cuore.
Commedia leggera con qualche sfumatura ironica e qualche punta parabolica, il racconto è costruito sulle relazioni tra Lorna, i suoi ex mariti, i suoi figli, cognate e cognati, figli dei figli…in una girandola di rapporti e situazioni che troveranno il loro giusto (?) compimento alla fine della storia.
La maggior parte dei capitoli si apre con una sorta di massima o sentenza a cui il racconto si riferisce, sulla scia della tradizione novellistica degli exempla medievali.
Ad esempio:
Cap. 1: È sconvolgente come, alle volte, la portata simbolica di un evento del tutto casuale si applichi perfettamente alla tua vita (in questo caso si tratta dell’avvenimento che apre la vicenda: il camposanto locale frana rovinosamente in seguito a un’acquazzone proprio il giorno della fuga di Lorna- il che avrà poi delle conseguenze).
Cap.3: Pensa ai problemi degli altri ed eviterai di pensare i tuoi.
Cap. 7: Non dobbiamo aspettarci che i nostri desideri si realizzino subito. Potrebbero non realizzarsi mai.
Cap. 8: La speranza non muore mai, e come darle torto?
Cap. 12: Il senso della famiglia è importante, anche se alle volte è malriposto.
E via andare fino al capitolo 54, l’ultimo, che recita così:
A volte, sebbene assai di rado, tutto si risolve.
All’improvviso Lorna, storica dell’Arte senza più arte (data l’età che avanza) né parte (data l’oscillazione sentimentale) decide che ha parecchi motivi per piantare in asso il fedifrago Monsier Dumas e ricongiungersi ai tre figli americani (e ai loro differenti e complicati problemi).
Ma il ritorno in realtà non è idilliaco come la mente lo dipinge e si scopre via via che il concetto di “casa” non è affatto semplice né così banale il suo significato.
E allora.
Partire, restare, costruire o distruggere un nido affettivo, ma soprattutto scoprire che il denaro -la sua mancanza o il suo eccesso- determina le scelte di ciascuno tanto quanto gli afflati del cuore.
Commedia leggera con qualche sfumatura ironica e qualche punta parabolica, il racconto è costruito sulle relazioni tra Lorna, i suoi ex mariti, i suoi figli, cognate e cognati, figli dei figli…in una girandola di rapporti e situazioni che troveranno il loro giusto (?) compimento alla fine della storia.
La maggior parte dei capitoli si apre con una sorta di massima o sentenza a cui il racconto si riferisce, sulla scia della tradizione novellistica degli exempla medievali.
Ad esempio:
Cap. 1: È sconvolgente come, alle volte, la portata simbolica di un evento del tutto casuale si applichi perfettamente alla tua vita (in questo caso si tratta dell’avvenimento che apre la vicenda: il camposanto locale frana rovinosamente in seguito a un’acquazzone proprio il giorno della fuga di Lorna- il che avrà poi delle conseguenze).
Cap.3: Pensa ai problemi degli altri ed eviterai di pensare i tuoi.
Cap. 7: Non dobbiamo aspettarci che i nostri desideri si realizzino subito. Potrebbero non realizzarsi mai.
Cap. 8: La speranza non muore mai, e come darle torto?
Cap. 12: Il senso della famiglia è importante, anche se alle volte è malriposto.
E via andare fino al capitolo 54, l’ultimo, che recita così:
A volte, sebbene assai di rado, tutto si risolve.
October 20, 2021
This is a book that is getting a lot of praise and as good as the writing is, the story is so ridiculous. The main character Lorna Mott is barely the star of this book, while her ex-husband’s family takes center stage in this tale.
Lorna is coming back to California after living in France for many years with her second husband. Having marital troubles she decides going back home is in her best interest. We meet her children and grandchildren who all are suffering and insufferable in my opinion. Her first husband who has gained much wealth since the demise of their marriage and is remarried with a beloved daughter with type 1 diabetes.
When his 15 year old daughter becomes pregnant, is when this book goes completely off the rails. Let me just say, as this book takes place in current times, this story is so unbelievable, especially for a family like this. It is completely laughable.
The characters are unlikeable, and as the story continues I disliked this book more and more. Again, Lorna is peripheral in this story, for almost the entire book. For me to like a book, there has to be something redeeming, and I could not find it. The rating of 2.5 stars is purely on writing and style which this book had plenty of, content was severely lacking for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Lorna is coming back to California after living in France for many years with her second husband. Having marital troubles she decides going back home is in her best interest. We meet her children and grandchildren who all are suffering and insufferable in my opinion. Her first husband who has gained much wealth since the demise of their marriage and is remarried with a beloved daughter with type 1 diabetes.
When his 15 year old daughter becomes pregnant, is when this book goes completely off the rails. Let me just say, as this book takes place in current times, this story is so unbelievable, especially for a family like this. It is completely laughable.
The characters are unlikeable, and as the story continues I disliked this book more and more. Again, Lorna is peripheral in this story, for almost the entire book. For me to like a book, there has to be something redeeming, and I could not find it. The rating of 2.5 stars is purely on writing and style which this book had plenty of, content was severely lacking for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 25, 2021
DNF I read the first 40 pages or so of this book and once I was introduced to the cast of characters and general situation, I knew that I could not read it. I have fought my way through too many novels this year that don't have one worthwhile, interesting, and/or likeable character in them. No more. It's back in the pile to return to the library. Not at all recommended. Ugh!
August 23, 2021
Definitely a fun book…a How We Live Today book, if by “today” you mean 2008 and by “we” you mean comfortably off White people in San Francisco (mostly). I especially enjoyed the main protagonist, a woman on the far side of a certain age, and the many POV characters she engages with.
June 29, 2021
Lorna Mott Dumas is leaving her second husband. She has been living in France for the last twenty years with her French husband, Armand-Loup. Now she’s grown tired of his wandering ways and the quaintness of the French village; she longs to return home to San Francisco.
At this stage in her life, sixty-something, it's time to focus on herself, revitalize her career as an Art Historian lecturer, and maybe even push her book a bit.
Lorna comes home and lands in a muddle of family matters. With three grown children, each with troubles of their own, grandkids, and an ex- (first husband) with a pregnant teen, Lorna somehow finds herself making a full circle.
It took me a few chapters to get a feel for these characters, but then I thought I could almost hear Lorna sigh as she puzzles over her children and found herself discussing life with her ex. Johnson’s writing is crisp, and the narration is witty and authentic. If you love character-driven novels that center on family, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 will delight you.
Thank you to @aaknopf for this #gifted copy. Happy Pub Day! 🎉
At this stage in her life, sixty-something, it's time to focus on herself, revitalize her career as an Art Historian lecturer, and maybe even push her book a bit.
Lorna comes home and lands in a muddle of family matters. With three grown children, each with troubles of their own, grandkids, and an ex- (first husband) with a pregnant teen, Lorna somehow finds herself making a full circle.
It took me a few chapters to get a feel for these characters, but then I thought I could almost hear Lorna sigh as she puzzles over her children and found herself discussing life with her ex. Johnson’s writing is crisp, and the narration is witty and authentic. If you love character-driven novels that center on family, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 will delight you.
Thank you to @aaknopf for this #gifted copy. Happy Pub Day! 🎉
July 9, 2021
Only got a quarter of the way through. This book really needed a good editor to spot the typos, as well as all the repetitions. The phrase “dot com millionaire” must have been repeated 50 times (and how anachronistic is that?). There’s a racist description that a woke Gen Z kid from SF would just not use. This book felt badly researched and badly told. I wish Johnson stuck with people that she actually knows something about, not stereotypes, as this all felt so inauthentic and grasping at a world of which she seems to know little.
Was huge fan of Health and Happiness and Le Mariage and Le Divorce. I really was so disappointed in this.
Was huge fan of Health and Happiness and Le Mariage and Le Divorce. I really was so disappointed in this.
July 10, 2021
Ok. I loved le divorce, but this one was awful, full of awful people. I’m not opposed to unlikeable characters, but this one had nothing but! The entire storyline with the pregnant teenager was not just absurd, but criminal. Not to mention the casual racism peppered in. I should have DNFed.
August 12, 2021
This novel, full of humor and angst, offers a look at how a woman tries to start a new life at an older age. Recommended by Jo. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore...
August 18, 2021
How wonderful to read a book by someone who can really write, and grammatically too! How many books have you read lately with phrasing as precise as, "if it were she"? Although Lorna Mott's homecoming is a central event of the novel, it is only one of many. These include the problems, mostly financial, of her three children and granddaughter. Also included are the pregnancy of her ex-husband's 15 year old daughter and the paintings of an, until recently, obscure painter from Iowa. Everyone has alternative motives, private motives at odds with their stated public reasons, misconceptions about each other, and a propensity to jump to conclusions. Central, also, as in many of Johnson's novels, is the cultural clashes between France and America.
October 26, 2021
Travel. France. Foods. Family drama and suspense. Rich people and upper middle class rich people problems. Lots of laughter as well as brilliant first paragraph one lined sentences that smack true about life in general for some of us, at the beginning of most chapters-this was a nice treat. The ending has made me laugh so much, and it was a quick read. Diane Johnson didn’t disappoint. And this is my first book by her. Lorna Mott is my fave character. Had assumed she would be like E.Strout’s “Olive Kitteridge,” but no, not really…
December 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this, maybe because, like Lorna, I just "came home" after 20+ years away from my native country and am wrestling with many of the same feelings she has. The place you leave is not what you come back to or even what you may have visited over the years.
September 13, 2022
I've never read anything by this author before. This is a long chatty trip with a cast of characters in a wealthy American family. I found it hard to relate to such well-to-do but careless folks, but enjoyed the clever way she managed to arrange happy endings for all. Settings are California and France. There's a focus on Art, "good" preschools and expensive mortgages -- and all of these "troubles" would seem faintly ridiculous to the average person trying to make ends meet.
November 8, 2022
Witty with fast comebacks on the fast track. Yet, with sensitive inner dialogue.
Read
July 14, 2021What?....
I enjoyed the novel...characters, plot, et aI. I had just hoped for more at the end. Somehow the ending felt unfinished. The author apparently was fine with the ending, but I felt like it was really missing, I felt there was something more to be said.
Well, that's the end...
I enjoyed the novel...characters, plot, et aI. I had just hoped for more at the end. Somehow the ending felt unfinished. The author apparently was fine with the ending, but I felt like it was really missing, I felt there was something more to be said.
Well, that's the end...
August 25, 2025
Even though I have read other books by this author and a good friend recommended it, I did not enjoy this one. Improbable circumstances, mostly mildly unpleasant characters (acting in ways that were not believable), and too many of them. Very critical of San Francisco, too, which I did not like.
I should've stopped reading it sooner, and I finally got through it by listening to the audiobook during the night
I should've stopped reading it sooner, and I finally got through it by listening to the audiobook during the night
November 20, 2022
2.5 Stars. Lorna Mott is an art lecturer in her 60s, who decides to leave her 2nd husband, a philandering Frenchmen, and the bougie lifestyle she enjoyed for years in France to return to her hometown state, California. Back in the US she faces adult offspring, their spouses, and grandkids, most of whom are battling their own significant hurdles. An additional main storyline revolves around Gilda, who is the 15yo half-sibling to Lorna's adult children. Also based in California, Gilda is the daughter of Randall, Lorna's first husband, and Amy, Randall's very wealthy second wife.
There is a lot going on here - both too much and not enough. Initially the reader is led to believe that this novel will be about Lorna, but then it starts to deviate down many paths. We learn snippets about her children, about one of her grandkids, about Randall and Amy, but then the book shifts to focusing primarily on Gilda’s situation, but not on Gilda herself.
There is potential with enough material here, and the author writes well -- albeit too removed, too emotionless. But Johnson just dabbles in her characters and her plot lines, without fully developing any of them. The resulting end product is incomplete, unsatisfying. I was unable to become invested in the book, because Johnson never fully invested herself in her characters and their stories. I also found the plot around Gilda to be a stretch - I didn’t find some of her parents’ key decisions to be convincing, believable.
Finally, the book contained random racist statements, which were jarring, unnecessary, and completely not in keeping with the overall tone of the book. Example #1, on page 170: "Had he fallen for one of those impossibly small, titless bar girls you saw on Thai Airways commercials? Who walked on your back and gave massage with their sidewise vaginas?" Example #2, on page 180: "ancient Asian sexual expertise." Example #3, on page 209: "the heart of darkness exists, and not only in Africa."
TL;DR: This book was a struggle to get thru. As a reader, it was difficult to become invested when the author never committed herself to fully developing her characters, and fully exploring their storylines. I would have given up if I didn't have to read it for book club.
There is a lot going on here - both too much and not enough. Initially the reader is led to believe that this novel will be about Lorna, but then it starts to deviate down many paths. We learn snippets about her children, about one of her grandkids, about Randall and Amy, but then the book shifts to focusing primarily on Gilda’s situation, but not on Gilda herself.
There is potential with enough material here, and the author writes well -- albeit too removed, too emotionless. But Johnson just dabbles in her characters and her plot lines, without fully developing any of them. The resulting end product is incomplete, unsatisfying. I was unable to become invested in the book, because Johnson never fully invested herself in her characters and their stories. I also found the plot around Gilda to be a stretch - I didn’t find some of her parents’ key decisions to be convincing, believable.
Finally, the book contained random racist statements, which were jarring, unnecessary, and completely not in keeping with the overall tone of the book. Example #1, on page 170: "Had he fallen for one of those impossibly small, titless bar girls you saw on Thai Airways commercials? Who walked on your back and gave massage with their sidewise vaginas?" Example #2, on page 180: "ancient Asian sexual expertise." Example #3, on page 209: "the heart of darkness exists, and not only in Africa."
TL;DR: This book was a struggle to get thru. As a reader, it was difficult to become invested when the author never committed herself to fully developing her characters, and fully exploring their storylines. I would have given up if I didn't have to read it for book club.
May 1, 2022
Lorna Mott torna a casa di Diane Johnson (Blu Atlantide) è un libro vivace, leggero e a tratti divertente. L'ho cominciato perché ero alla ricerca di una lettura piacevole e distensiva e in effetti fa quello che promette: fa evadere. Non sono però rimasta folgorata, questo devo ammetterlo. In alcuni punti ho trovato la narrazione lenta e un pochino ripetitiva ma nell'insieme mi ha fatto compagnia in un momento non proprio semplice.
Lorna è una donna di mezza età che torna a casa. Dalla Francia agli Stati Uniti per riprendere in mano la propria vita. Lorna è una storica dell'arte e ha lasciato in Francia il marito Armand - Loup perché l'ha tradita. Se ne vergogna e non riesce a raccontare a nessuno i motivi della rottura. Arrivata però in America si rende conto che quello non è il Paese che ha lasciato e che ricominciare da capo forse non era facile come aveva pensato.
RECENSIONE COMPLETA: www.lalettricecontrocorrente.it
Lorna è una donna di mezza età che torna a casa. Dalla Francia agli Stati Uniti per riprendere in mano la propria vita. Lorna è una storica dell'arte e ha lasciato in Francia il marito Armand - Loup perché l'ha tradita. Se ne vergogna e non riesce a raccontare a nessuno i motivi della rottura. Arrivata però in America si rende conto che quello non è il Paese che ha lasciato e che ricominciare da capo forse non era facile come aveva pensato.
RECENSIONE COMPLETA: www.lalettricecontrocorrente.it
July 9, 2021
The book started out a 4, then went downward to a 2.5 for me. First of all, the book divides between Lorna and her ex husband's child Gilda's storyline. The book's name and description is a little bit deceiving, because Gilda honestly has nothing to do with Lorna's storyline. There were lots of chapters that add nothing to the story, and the author's inability to use other word for the tech world drives me crazy. She keeps repeating the term dot-com. Also, I'm not very fond of the hyper-sexualization of Asia. Like, yes, I get it, you thought your son is in Asia having sex with prostitutes, you don't have to repeat it ~30 times...Honestly, save yourself the time and skip the book.
August 1, 2021
1.5 - Rounded up
Party because it was just dull and monotonous - you could skim several pages and not miss anything.
Mostly because just about every relationship (romantic, familial, friendship) was so transactional and often rooted in money. Who needs money and who they can get money from, even basic friendships are rooted in a "what can I get from this person" mentality.
And also - the glossing over the 1.5 stars may be generous
Party because it was just dull and monotonous - you could skim several pages and not miss anything.
Mostly because just about every relationship (romantic, familial, friendship) was so transactional and often rooted in money. Who needs money and who they can get money from, even basic friendships are rooted in a "what can I get from this person" mentality.
And also - the glossing over the 1.5 stars may be generous
September 8, 2021
This one just wasn't for me at all. Tedious, lack of development in any of the characters, Gilda's story line (!!!), and felt disjointed throughout. A bit of a chore to get through due to all of that.
July 1, 2021
Loved this, grew up in this area, very relatable, could read this indefinitely, didn’t want it to end, like a fly on their wall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews